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You were blunt with your words and never had any problems speaking your mind. You were painfully honest, almost to the point of annoyance, but in a way, Shinsou found that trait of yours to be quite endearing. Whenever people found out about Shinsou's Quirk and how it worked, they always seemed to become much more wary around him. They would be careful with their verbal responses, afraid that the aspiring hero would use his Quirk on them or something.
"As if I would ever use my Quirk like that," Shinsou thought to himself, frustration boiling over in his chest. "Not everything revolves around you people. Why would I even use my Quirk on the likes of you? You don't understand a single thing. Even I..."
"Good morning, Shinsou," you greet your classmate with a smile, sitting down atop his desk to kill some time to converse with him before classes start.
The high school student mirrors your expression. You were different from the others, unafraid to talk with him or judge him based on his power. "Morning," he returns your greeting, his voice sounding as monotonous as usual, but you know better. It was subtle, but you can always tell how Shinsou was feeling judging by his voice, and he always seemed pleased to talk with you.
"You look dead tired as always," you jokingly note, pointing out with your index finger the bags underneath his eyes.
Shinsou scoffs in a playful manner. He rolls his eyes and rests his chin atop his palm while resting his elbow atop his desk before shooting back, "And you lack tact, as always."
You shrug your shoulders. "Life's too short to worry about such things. Things would be so much easier if people were more honest."
"But then your Quirk wouldn't have that much use in the world, wouldn't it?"
Your Quirk, Loose Lips, renders a person unable to lie for a set duration of time, depending on how long you kiss that person, whether it be on the lips, cheek, or anywhere else on their body where your lips can make contact with their skin. It can prove to be a useful Quirk during certain situations, but most people thought nothing of it. Even you yourself had to admit that it gave you more trouble than for what it's worth.
"Perhaps," you answer with another shrug, your response coming out a bit more distant. "But maybe it's better to hurt someone with honesty sooner rather than let the lies pile up."
Shinsou's expression melts to one of sympathy at your response, knowing full well why you hold such a philosophy. There was once a time in which you confided in him about what happened with your ex-boyfriend. The relationship wasn't anything serious, and perhaps it was just mere infatuation at the time, but nevertheless, it was your first time ever feeling that way, and so it stuck in your memory.
Your classmate can still remember how vulnerable you sounded when you told him your story of how your Quirk ruined the relationship, even if it was for the best. You had daringly placed a quick kiss to your ex-boyfriend's cheek after overcoming your timidness and told him you loved him. To your horror, instead of reciprocating your words, he truthfully said: "I'm just using you to make the girl I like jealous."
Ever since then, you've sworn off getting into a relationship, lest you feel compelled to share that physical intimacy and getting your heart broken by the truth like that again. In a way, Shinsou understood your reasoning, but a small part of him held a glimmer of hope that you might give him a chance, if he ever gathered enough courage to tell you how he feels.
Before he can reply, the door slides open with the homeroom teacher walking inside, signalling the start of class. You leave to go to your respective seat, Shinsou's eyes following your back the entire time.
That was how Shinsou's mornings usually went. You would greet him with a smile, and the two of you would converse about mundane things until the start of class. The aspiring hero always looked forward to these simple conversations, but Shinsou started to notice something different. You had started to become more distant from him.
"Good morning," you would greet the young man, but then you never stuck around for long to hold a conversation, instead heading straight to your seat.
At some point, you even just stopped greeting him overall, and Shinsou started to wonder if perhaps he did something wrong. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, and mostly just because he missed having you talk with him, the student pulls you aside during lunch break, dragging you along to somewhere more private where nobody can interfere.
"What's going on?" You ask, crossing your arms over your chest.
Shinsou mimics your posture, raising up an eyebrow as he returns, getting straight to the point, "That's my line. What's wrong? Why don't you talk with me anymore?"
You scrunch up your face. "Why do you care?"
"Because I'm your friend," your classmate answers straight away, although he hesitates on the word 'friend'.
The corners of your lips tug into a frown, remembering the conversations you had with a few other people who knew Shinsou, and you reply, "...You're lying. You only talk with me because you feel sorry for me."
"What?" Shinsou's eyebrows stitch together in confusion at your answer. "Why would you think that?"
"It doesn't matter because it's the truth, isn't it? Everybody else says so!"
The aspiring hero falls silent. He can't wrap his mind around as to how you could possibly believe another person's words over his own. Or perhaps you were just lying to yourself. The young man wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. It isn't the first time he's seen you lying to yourself to protect your emotional and mental state.
"I'm going to use my Quirk on you," Shinsou warns you beforehand. Admittedly, he doesn't want to do this, but there's no other way. He needs to convince you somehow, and this is the only method he can think of right now.
You're taken aback by his words, and without thinking, you end up responding, "What? Why?"
With guilt tugging at his chest, Shinsou follows through with his warning. Suddenly, you feel your body shut down. ...No, that wasn't quite it. Your body just refuses to listen to you. After confirming that his Quirk is in effect, Shinsou speaks up, "I've managed to control my Quirk enough so that you're aware of what's happening." After a pause, the young man continues, giving you a simple command that makes his cheeks flush a bit, "Kiss my cheek, or hand, or anywhere you're more or less comfortable with. I want you to use your Quirk on me. That way, you know for certain that I'm not lying to you."
No. You have nothing against kissing Shinsou due to your own buried feelings for him, but you're afraid of using your Quirk on him. You're afraid of whatever truth he has to say to you. Afraid of him breaking your heart. But nevertheless, your body reacts to your classmate's words. You take a few steps forward as Shinsou approaches you at the same time, meeting you halfway.
Being this close, you can see the reddish tint to his face as you lean forward and kiss him on the cheek. After pulling away, you regain control of your body once more. Shinsou must have let you go, you realize. You can easily turn and run away to avoid hearing whatever it is the aspiring hero wants to say to you, but you find yourself unable to. Shinsou's eyes hold determination in them, rooting you to the spot.
When your lips had made contact with Shinsou's cheek, asides from the embarrassment and joy bubbling in his chest, he felt a sudden urge to speak the truths he's kept hidden, almost like a buzzing sensation that wouldn't leave him alone. This must be what your Quirk feels like when used on someone. But even so, Shinsou did not fight against it, and while keeping your gaze locked with his, the young man says shortly and simply, "I love you."
You accidentally let slip a small gasp at his confession. It isn't what you were expecting. "Wh-What?" You ask, wondering if maybe you heard wrong. After all, Shinsou is currently under the influence of your Quirk, so he can't be lying, but...
"I love you," Shinsou repeats, his voice firm and even. His hands ball into fists by his sides as he continues, unable to stop his words from spilling out, "I love you a lot more than just a friend. I like talking with you. I stare at you during class or whenever you're not looking. I wonder what it would be like to go on dates with you. I dream about what it would be like to hold you in my arms and to kiss you. Even now, I want to kiss you over and over again until neither of us can breathe."
Soon enough, the effect starts to wear off, and Shinsou falls dead silent. His entire face, neck, and ears become extremely flushed after he registers what he just admitted to. The student raises his arm, covering his mouth with the back of his hand as he averts his gaze. He had underestimated your Quirk. He didn't think he would reveal everything like that. In a way, it was a bit of a frightening power, but in the end, everything Shinsou just said was still true, as embarrassing as it was.
"You...love me..." You repeat his words, your eyes blown wide in disbelief.
Shinsou nods his head. It's unsurprisingly much more difficult to voice out his thoughts without the help of your Quirk to give him courage in a sense, but he has to go this far to convince you otherwise. Silence looms over the both of you as you process each and every single honest word that left Shinsou's lips.
At first, you're not sure how to react, but then heat rises to your cheeks, and you don't bother to stop the grin that starts to spread over your face. "You love me," you say, looking directly into the young man's eyes. "Just like how I love you."
Shinsou inhales sharply at your added comment, confessing that you feel the same way he does, and soon enough, he's grinning as well. Before anything else, however, Shinsou apologizes, "Sorry for using my Quirk on you."
"It's fine," you reassure him, taking a step closer and lacing your fingers together with his own. "You actually saved me a lot of trouble by doing so. If you didn't, I'm sure I would have ruined our friendship."
"Well, we're not really just friends anymore, are we?"
You shake your head, butterflies dancing in your stomach. You don't think you've ever felt this light and happy before. Cocking your head to the side, a teasing smile dances on your lips as you ask, "So, do you still want to kiss me over and over again?"
Shinsou makes a strangled sound of embarrassment that you would bring that up, and his free hand goes to rub the back of his neck. After composing himself, he decides to answer your question with one of his own, "How about you use your Quirk on me and find out?"